


Dyin' Ain't So Bad

by bouncyscreamingnewsboys



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Angst, Canon Era, M/M, Post-Canon, Sorry Not Sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 09:43:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16385609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bouncyscreamingnewsboys/pseuds/bouncyscreamingnewsboys
Summary: Albert and Race. It's sad. I wrote this in a fever dream while listening to Bonnie and Clyde. This has nothing to do with Bonnie and Clyde.





	Dyin' Ain't So Bad

He knew time was wasting out but he couldn't do anything to stop it and it felt miserable.

Racetrack reminisced on the past years as he held his lover, the memories coming back all too strong and all too fast.

_Age seventeen._

_The boys were running along the pier, making jokes for the workers and racing each other to the end._

_“Ha! I win again!” Albert stuck out his tongue and fished out the penny from his pocket. He handed it to Race, who was in the middle of dancing around and celebrating his fourth victory._

_A delightful smirk replaced the fake pout on Albert's face as soon as Race 'fell’ in the water. He spat it out, resurfacing after just a few seconds._

_Albert took off his shirt and shoes, knowing what Race would say before he even opened his mouth._

_“Get in here!”_

_They swam for what felt like hours, until they both looked like raisins_.

“Al, I- I can't let you go. I can't control it- I know I can't but it's too soon.” Race kissed Albert quickly, wanting to share as many moments with him before there were no more to share.

The other man looked worse for wear. Years in the sun had weakened him along with this sickness.

_Age twenty-five._

_“What if we just run away?”_

_Race was startled to hear Albert speak. They'd spent the afternoon in each other's arms for the first time in years._

_As soon as Albert had gotten too old to sell papers, he'd gone to college and Katherine had gotten him a job at The Sun as a photographer. When he hit twenty-one, Race barely saw him. He got married. She was nice of course, but a wife and child on the way began to eat into his time with Race._

_In the meantime, Race was missing his best friend. He aged out shortly after Albert. The now-man managed to get a job at the factory that scraped him by with rent._

_“What do you mean?” The house was silent, save a mouse running across the floor. Albert's family was visiting her father upstate._

_“Jack did. Went out west to that Santa Fe. He sent me a letter, he's been living in California for a year. They're nice there.”_

_Weeks later, they were on a train._

“Please Racer. My time is up.”

That broke him. Race dissolved into another fit of tears on the blankets. The end was nearing and there was nothing he could do. He felt useless.

_Age thirty-eight._

_They had life together in San Francisco, it felt like a dream._

_A small apartment in a small neighborhood downtown and each other was all they needed anymore._

_Ties to the past were ever present though. If Race stayed up long enough, he could catch Albert crying at night. Race cried too sometimes._

_But their life was good._

“Racetrack Higgins, if you cry about this anymore, I'll die.” A lighthearted attempt to lighten the situation only started up another bout of tears.

“Racer, hey, hey. Love, please. Don't cry about me, I don't want to leave you either.” Albert's voice was barely working, a hoarse whisper at best. He didn't want to get sick.

Race pushed the hair out of the way and kissed Albert's forehead as if checking for a fever. He was, the fever had been raging for days.

“Are you sure you'll be okay?”

“Dyin’ ain't so bad.”

_Age fifty-six._

_Race was on his own._

_He'd been like this for a few years. They all blended together, he was barely able to tell May from June._

_Living in their apartment became too much very quickly. First he moved in with Jack, then moved back to Manhattan._

_Despite the time, he still drowned in the memories of Albert. Everywhere he went, the bright red hair and goofy smile stuck out._

Davey took him in. Race had been wandering the streets, lost, when he bumped into the friendly face.

The dark haired boy married Katherine, the pair had moved to Midtown.

It was a relief. Finally, Race had people to talk to. He became in sort of an uncle role with their kids, and he smiled for the first time in years.

Still, he slipped into being a recluse. Some days Race would be out, taking grandchildren to the park and laughing. Others he wouldn't move for hours, just staring at a grimy black and white photo.

It was the only one he kept. Albert looked so young. So alive.

Towards the end, Davey felt the need to intervene on these days. He wouldn't make Race talk, just sit with him and talk about his day.

“I wish we'd gone together. He's somewhere and I-I got stuck with all these memories."

The cold winter eventually caught up to Race and he wasted away.

He wasn't scared. Albert said it wasn't bad.


End file.
